FYI

Dear family and Friends,

hmm well we had a pretty uneventful week. I mean we taught 3 non-members and all which was great but they are all leaving...

So we taught 2 Japanese students who were here learning in America and we taught them about God and how to pray but they go home this week to japan. and We taught this guy named Ken! it was pretty cool because we just thought to stop by the fellow shippers house to ask about him and he was there and he wanted to be taught! which was tight! i thought it started off poorly and we was asking a lot of hard questions... i said a quick prayer and slowly the lesson got better and better. The sad part was we learned he was leaving the next day to go to the eat coast to visit for like a whole month and a half because he has relatives who are failing in there health and he wanted to be near them. so we probably wont teach him again until may. other than that we didnt teach too many other people. we have been trying really hard to find a new investigator. We are trying to set a good example for the zone and lead out but its just not happening for us. 

it has been kinda discouraging and the members are the bulk of the discouragement. With this huge emphasis on missionary work people are changing there excuses from "i dont know anyone" to "No one is ready." it is really irritating because sometimes the people are READY they just dont invite. and we dont go over because they ask us not to go over. All we ask is an invitation. it is not our decision to make if someone is ready or not! that is the lords and there's. We invite they make a decision. but if we don't invite they don't get a decision. 

Well i am doing well. still trying to find new investigators. Don't come up with lame excuses for your missionaries. we are smarter then we look and we don't call you out on it because we have to use you in the work. FYI.

Elder Salmon

Hey from Sandy

Dear Family and Friends,

Well i have a few mixed feelings with a few things that happened this last week. first i got transferred from west Jordan! which i was very sad. i really enjoy it over there and i was getting a lot of good work done! the second thing that i am not too excited about is that they called me as a zone leader... on one hand its less stressful. on the other im not sure i want to lead like that. Its a lot of trust and its fun. i have a great companion. the oldest companion ive ever had. hes at 21 months. and it looks like i will kill him(send him home) because he goes home in 2 transfers. 

I got sent to sandy to the same-ish zone i was in the last time i was here in sandy. (the zones have switch a bit but my old area is in the zone.) sandy is not too bad i guess. i could be here for a long time. i like staying in areas for a long period of time so mayby i can be here for the long run. Unfortunately we dont ahve an investigators... so i was a little bummed coming from a place where i had 6 investigators. oh well it means there are people for me to find here. and we have to find becuase we need to lead out in the zone and that means we need to find people to teach. i know the lord will provide people who are ready we just need to put the work in. 

The sandy crescent ridge stake was very welcoming. they all knew my name basically before i even met them. the stake president sent out a mass email to everyone telling a little about me. Now im back to memorizing peoples names. Im grateful im not leading the area! first time in forever! i just get to give my 2 cents and help while my companion leads the area. i am trying to learn it as fast as i can. but i have more than just my area to think about. 3 district and over 20 missionaries is a lot to think about. that part is a little overwhelming. 

Its really good hearing from all of you. i do enjoy getting your letters and emails and im sorry if i dont have time to reply a whole lot. But i just got even busier. I love you all! 

Elder Salmon

Another Day in Paradise

Dear family and Friends,

Well this transfer has come to a close. that has been really weird because it feels like i just got here. But it really has gone by quick and we have done a lot of work here. i still feel like a new comer here but i am starting to know a lot of people. So in the morning i scored this free pass to work out at a gym not too far away and have been going there in the morning for my workouts. That has been very beneficial for me. i get a good workout and i dont feel as guilty now when i eat a little too much at dinner time. 

We had a lot of cancellations like last week. We are at the point where we need to drop investigators, but my companion doesnt like it. he thinks im giving up on them. when in reality im helping them more. but he doesnt see it. We did pick up 3 new investigators this last week. they didnt accept a date, well really i didnt have enough time to put them on date. the lesson went over. But they will ahve a date next lesson. They want to join the church but they want to learn more. I believe its just a matter of time. I believe when a ward believes and they put the effort into helping us the Lord gives us investigators. This ward wants to help us and they are the smallest ward but we have the most work there. And that makes me want to spend more time in there ward. 

So on Saturday Elder kulu, now John kulu took me and my comp out for lunch. i got to catch up with him and see how he is doing. it was very surreal for me to see how much he has changed. he is working a full time job, hes going to college, hes not messing around with the girls, and he still does his studying in the morning. It was very good to see him. i love that guy and i know we will stay in touch. he is living in cottonwood right now and moving down to provo in a month or so. 

But life is going good. The work continues to move on and we are always looking. The weather has been pretty nice. not too rainy and very ward. we had a great winter compared to last year. We keep thinking its spring when we see the suna dn its 60 degrees outside. but everyone keeps talking about how its still got one or two more snow storms left. i just pray it doesnt. 

Love Elder Salmon

"Ya'll have some crazy lives"

Dear Family and Friends,

So this last week was pretty dismal. not much went a on as far as missionary work. A lot of people had to cancel on us and we even lost 2 inv. they decided to drop us. soo that was problematic and it was a little disheartening. on sunday we had fast and testimony mtg in the 6 wards that we cover so we had a busy morning hitting up testimony mtgs ward councils and trying to get all our inv. to church. it turned out pretty good. we have 1 ward that has a brand new bishop and members of the council and they are on fire! they provide us with atleast 3-4 teaching opportunities a week. and this week they set up a lesson with a potential family. they have really made our job easier and it makes me want to work in there ward more and more. 

We starting teaching a couple who has been trying to come back to church. he just had brain surgery because he has a tumor in his head. he has 2 years to live. he wants to get sealed to his wife and i have not seen a more humble man. his only question is "what do i have to do?"  they are a great couple who struggle with the little things but they will make it to the temple. i know they want it. 

Sunday we got to meet a new family who has been taking the discussions in west valley but live in our ward. they want to learn more about the gospel and want to meet with us. we have a lesson with the, tomorrow. the mom and her 2 kids want to learn more. there husband is LA and with support but doesn't want to get active. they seem like a great family. 

I am doing well. im staying healthy and trying to work out and stay healthy. It crazy getting all this news about everyone. i feel like when news hits, it all comes out. Yall ahve some crazy lives. its hard to keep up with it all. But im glad you all keep in touch. its good to hear from you. 

With Love elder Salmon

"I'm just chillun up here"

Dear Family and Friends,

I cant believe ive been in this area for a whole month now. i still feel new but im really not that new anymore. It has been tough getting to know all the members and the leadership by name. i need like flash cards or something haha but i probably wont do that. that would involve me taking all of there pictures. that would be creepy. 

We had a pretty good week. nothing too abnormal happened. With our investigators a lot of them are just not on date. We have been struggling to get them on date for one reason or another. some are they are not coming to church others they dont see the need, the most frustrating is they can get permission from the parent guardian. So this week thats what i wanted to focus on. was getting people to commit to a date. we were able to put 2 more on date but we lost one! DAng it! Jaron snider broke his hand and is getting a cast! trying to put him back on date and just put a bag around his cast! haha. he was supposed to be baptized this Saturday so hang tight. this week could be a little crazy getting him baptized.

Also on saturday we picked up a new inv. who actually requested us to come. But i think he misunderstand what we do. he has 3 bad addictions and he wants us to help him over come it. When we met with him he told us how he wants to quit drinking and quit gambling. while we were talking though he was drinking and after we left he drove to a casino. haha he is in deep and he will need a lot of help. i tried to tell him if he wants to commit he must commit to god and work towards baptism. We are not really there yet. 

Today i got an email of a couple who i taught in sandy! probably one of the few people that i really touched. I never found out what happened to them and it was so great to hear that they are active in the ward. they give talks, and bear there testimonies! i think they even have callings and are working towards getting sealed in the temple this summer! i really want to go. that would be something special. We never did baptize there kids... i wonder if they got them baptized. 

Well im just chillun up here in west jordan. Yall take care.

Elder Salmon